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Soapy Hen Harriers?

Lush offer sweet smell of salvation to save Hen Harriers

Lush cosmetics are releasing a new bath bomb named by TV presenter Chris Packham called Skydancer – Far From The Madding Guns, to help raise funds for one of England’s rarest bird of prey, the hen harrier.

Knowing the strength of feeling amongst the public, after their hen harrier campaign last year, they wanted to provide their customers with a way of directly contributing to the efforts of protecting this vulnerable bird. By buying a bath bomb, people can personally contribute to the monitoring of these precious few birds. A form of crowd funding, for people who otherwise feel powerless to help.

The money raised from the product will be put towards aiding the RSPB’s Hen Harrier LIFE+ project which is satellite tagging as many hen harrier chicks as possible over the coming years. This strategy allows the UK’s largest and most successful conservation organisation to monitor these birds after they leave the nest.

A Government-commissioned report states that there should in fact be over breeding 300 pairs breeding on the uplands of northern England. However, in 2013 there were no successful nests and the situation has barely improved with just four successful pairs in 2014 and six pairs in 2015 – a statistic that still worries the conservation organisations greatly. According to the report, the main culprit for this decline is illegal persecution associated with driven grouse moors

Lush first got involved with the campaign to protect hen harriers in August 2014 when they linked up with the organisers of Hen Harrier Day, an event set up by Chris Packham, Mark Avery and Birders Against Wildlife Crime to highlight the near extinction of one of England’s rarest and most beautiful birds of prey. Between them a campaign was set up which saw Lush customers sign a politely worded plea to Her Majesty the Queen asking for her help and support in stopping this illegal activity. Over the course of the campaign 20,000 postcards were signed by Lush customers and hand delivered to Buckingham Palace late last year.

In an effort to conserve hen harriers the RSPB and Natural England have been satellite tracking the chicks of these birds to learn more about their ecology and to find out where they might be at risk.

Paul Morton, Lush campaigner says

“By helping the RSPB tag as many chicks as is legally and ethically possible, we’re compiling a much clearer understanding of where these birds are most at risk. If you think about it, this should be a project the shooting lobby should welcome with open arms. If they’re as concerned about hen harriers as they say they are, they won’t mind the whole country being updated and informed where roughly every tagged hen harrier across the country is through the RSPBs Hen Harrier LIFE+ project”

Jeff Knott, the RSPB’s Head of Nature Policy, said: “We are delighted that Lush has come up with this imaginative way of raising awareness about hen harriers and getting their customers involved in their conservation. Everyone who buys a bath bomb will be making a valuable contribution towards bringing this amazing bird of prey back from the brink of extinction in England.”

Anti-RSPB group, You Forgot The Birds recently issued a statement blaming the RSPB for the failure of five hen harrier nests this summer due to over-monitoring of these nests. However, Government agency Natural England confirmed the failure was actually down to the males from each pair never returning to the nest whilst out hunting miles away, therefore forcing the females to have to leave the eggs un-incubated whilst they went and found food for themselves.